They tied my wrists together behind my back, and scooped me up by the elbows.When I was a child, I'd seen my grandmother pick up hens that way, gathering their wings into one hand, with speed and force, before she made them into soup for dinner.

There was no more space in the two vans they'd sent for us, so they pushed me into a separate police car by myself. My crime was that, along with 13 other educators from all across the state, I'd formed a human chain that, for 20 minutes at rush hour, cut diagonally through the intersection of Morgan and Fayetteville Streets, in front of Governor McCrory's office.When the governor, again, failed to prioritize my students' suffering, I blocked traffic in protest.When despite a well-publicized request, our governor disrespected our profession by refusing to meet with leading educators in a civil dialog about the wellbeing of our state's children, I stood in protest.I stood in protest of the neglect Governor McCrory has continuously shown our children. Repeatedly refusing to address kids' most urgent needs and returning, unbothered, to campaigning for another term in office, was an unconscionable reality to me - so I refused to move.

(I didn't start in that intersection.)

Over the past 4 years, I'd spoken out many times about the alarming conditions my students have to fight their way through in order to learn.When I say our schools lack basic supplies, I mean paper - both printing paper and toilet paper -, whiteboard markers, working computers, science lab materials, equipment for art or gym class.We don't have textbooks in history class.We don't have textbooks in history class.We don't have textbooks in history class.I've taught World and U.S. history without a textbook for the past 4 years.My students can only receive medical care if they get injured Tuesday morning between 9 and Badass Teachers Association: They Picked Me Up Last. #StudentsDeserveMore - from Anca Stefan: